For many, the road to college can be long and complex.But for one Johns Hopkins University student, the quest for an education brought him all the way across the world.George Mwinnyaa is not your typical rising senior at Johns Hopkins.From across the world in Ghana, Mwinnyaa, the youngest of 32 children, is living a dream in a place he never thought possible."I noticed that people in my community who were well-to-do and could provide a meal were people who had some form of education,” Mwinnyaa said.So that's what Mwinnyaa set out to find. He and his wife, a Peace Corps volunteer from Alaska, married in Ghana and moved to Nevada, where he went to community college."I saw it as an opportunity to change my own situation, but also to change the situation of my family," Mwinnyaa said.Three years later, Mwinnyaa is one of only 15 students in the country to be accepted to the National Institute of Health's scholarship program, which contributes $20,000 toward his senior-year tuition.Mwinnyaa said being a father has only motivated him more to get his education"I don't want this one to grow to go through what I went through,” Mwinnyaa said. “So any time I look at him and think of what I went through, it just makes me want to work really hard."Mwinnyaa, 28, said his past experiences now translate to motivation for the future."To excel academically, you can almost get into anything you want,” Mwinnyaa said. “If you are born in a tough neighborhood, and you are not happy about it, and you don't like the life that's happening around you, there's one way to change it, you just work hard and it will pay off big time."Get the WBAL-TV News App

BALTIMORE —

For many, the road to college can be long and complex.

But for one Johns Hopkins University student, the quest for an education brought him all the way across the world.

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George Mwinnyaa is not your typical rising senior at Johns Hopkins.

From across the world in Ghana, Mwinnyaa, the youngest of 32 children, is living a dream in a place he never thought possible.

"I noticed that people in my community who were well-to-do and could provide a meal were people who had some form of education,” Mwinnyaa said.

So that's what Mwinnyaa set out to find. He and his wife, a Peace Corps volunteer from Alaska, married in Ghana and moved to Nevada, where he went to community college.

"I saw it as an opportunity to change my own situation, but also to change the situation of my family," Mwinnyaa said.

Three years later, Mwinnyaa is one of only 15 students in the country to be accepted to the National Institute of Health's scholarship program, which contributes $20,000 toward his senior-year tuition.

Mwinnyaa said being a father has only motivated him more to get his education

"I don't want this one to grow to go through what I went through,” Mwinnyaa said. “So any time I look at him and think of what I went through, it just makes me want to work really hard."

Mwinnyaa, 28, said his past experiences now translate to motivation for the future.

"To excel academically, you can almost get into anything you want,” Mwinnyaa said. “If you are born in a tough neighborhood, and you are not happy about it, and you don't like the life that's happening around you, there's one way to change it, you just work hard and it will pay off big time."